Alzheimer's disease (AD) causes memory loss and other impairments in cognitive function. Consequently, when a person suffers from AD, it may be difficult for that person to live independently. Other conditions may also cause mental or physical impairments which make independent living difficult. Fortunately, tools for assisted living can be used to overcome some of the challenges faced by people who want to live substantially independently, despite physical or mental impairments. Such tools can be simple or complex.
For instance, a caregiver can use sticky notes to post messages around a person's dwelling, to remind that person about various tasks the person should perform (e.g., taking medication, brushing teeth, etc.). Similarly, voice recorders may be used to record messages for a given person, and the messages may be played back manually, for instance in response to the person pressing a “play” button.
Alternatively, an alarm clock may be set to automatically generate an alarm at a specified time, for instance to remind a person to take medication. However, a conventional reminding device (e.g., an alarm clock) may present its message regardless of whether anyone is around.
Outside of the field of health care, a console computer game may use a proximity sensor to detect whether a potential customer is near. When the game is in attract mode, if the game detect a person passing by, the game may respond by playing a predetermined scene or otherwise playing or displaying information to attract the customer to the game.